1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to receptacles and albums for cards, photographs, and other sheet-like collectible items, and more particularly, to protective containers which provide storage for the items and enable handling of the items without touching the items themselves.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Receptacles and albums for cards, photographs, and other sheet-like collectible items are well known in the art. Protection of the collectible item from fingerprints and other forms of soiling from handling is desired. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,451 of Suzuki discloses a protective print holder which permits handling of the print without touching the print. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,889,748 of Dudley discloses a sealed, protective device for a postage stamp. However, the prior art does not provide means for organizing and arranging a group of protected prints or postage stamps together in album form. In this respect, it would be desirable if an apparatus were provided in which individually protected sheets can be organized and arranged in album form.
In addition, the following U.S. patents disclose devices for mounting slides, but they do not provide means for arranging the slides in album form: U.S. Pat. No. 4,825,574 of George; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,836,377 of Heron. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,135 of Wittnebel et al discloses a frame-like retainer for a visual transparency, but no provision is made to organize and arrange a plurality of transparencies into an album.
If a plurality of protected sheets were arranged as pages and organized in album form, it would be desirable to be capable of readily adding or deleting individually protected sheets from a page in the album. For an efficient usage of an album page, it would be desirable if a protected item could be viewed from either side of a page. In this respect, it would be desirable if a protective receptacle had two transparent sides so that two sheet-like items can be stored in a single receptacle back-to-back; and one item can be viewed through one transparent side, and the second item can be viewed through the other transparent side.
Some albums have permanent binders and a fixed, invariable number of pages. Other albums have binders which permit addition and deletion of a number of pages. In this respect, it would be desirable if an album were provided which included a binder which permitted addition or deletion of a number of pages, each of which contained a plurality of individually protected sheets.
Thus, while the foregoing body of prior art indicates it to be well known to use protective receptacles for collectibles in sheet form, the prior art described above does not teach or suggest an apparatus in which individual protected sheets can be organized and arranged in album form. Also, the prior art does not provide an album to which or from which one can readily add or delete individually protected sheets from the album. The prior art does not provide a sheet protector receptacle that has two transparent sides so that two sheet-like items can be stored in a single receptacle back-to-back; and one item can be viewed through one transparent side, and the second item can be viewed through the other transparent side. In addition, the prior art does not provide an album that includes a binder which permits addition or deletion of a number of pages, each of which contains a plurality of individually protected sheets. The foregoing disadvantages are overcome by the unique modular sheet display album apparatus of the present invention as will be made apparent from the following description thereof. Other advantages of the present invention over the prior art also will be rendered evident.